Wireless communication networks typically include wireless communication devices which, via a wireless access node, communicate with further communication networks and equipment. Recently, a growing demand for mobile high speed data transfers has resulted in the publication of several IP mobility protocols as standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). These Mobile IP standards attempt to solve the problem of a wireless communication device roaming within a network by providing location-independent routing of data packets.
Using Mobile IP, a wireless communication device is associated with a home network and an anchored home IP address. The home network includes a home agent that stores information about the wireless communication device. When the wireless communication device roams into a foreign network, the device is associated with a care-of address which identifies its current location, and the home address is associated with the local endpoint of a tunnel to the home agent. Mobile IP specifies how a wireless communication device registers with its home agent and how the home agent routes packets to the wireless device through the tunnel.
While the standard Mobile IP protocols work well when roaming within different subnets of a network or within different networks utilizing the same IP mobility scheme, a problem arises when a dual-mode wireless communication device capable of communicating with two different wireless access networks that utilize different Mobile IP protocols roams between these networks. Unfortunately, when such a dual-mode wireless communication device is roaming, multiple IP addresses may be assigned to the device, each for use only in a single network, which may cause transmission delay and requires additional IP resources, address translations, and bindings.
Overview
A method of assigning a single packet address to a wireless communication device in a communication system comprising a first wireless network and a second wireless network comprises, in the wireless communication device, transferring a first network service request to a router in the first wireless network, wherein the first network service request includes a first network user identifier. The method further comprises, in the router, transferring an authorization request to an authorization system, wherein the authorization request includes the first network user identifier. The method further comprises, in the authorization system, determining whether the wireless communication device associated with the first network user identifier comprises dual-mode functionality, and determining whether a session for the second wireless network exists based on the first network user identifier. The method further comprises, in the router, transferring a first network service response to the wireless communication device, wherein the first network service response includes a packet address for the second wireless network.
A method of assigning a single packet address to a wireless communication device in a communication system comprising a first wireless network and a second wireless network comprises, in the wireless communication device, transferring a first network service request to a router in the first wireless network, wherein the first network service request includes a first network user identifier. The method further comprises, in the router, transferring an authorization request to an authorization system, wherein the authorization request includes the first network user identifier. The method further comprises, in the authorization system, determining whether the wireless communication device associated with the first network user identifier comprises dual-mode functionality, and translating the first network user identifier into a second network user identifier. The method further comprises, in the authorization system, transferring a pre-authorization request to a subscriber system, wherein the pre-authorization request includes the second network user identifier. The method further comprises, in the subscriber system, generating an information block in response to the pre-authorization request and transferring the information block to the authorization system, wherein the information block comprises the second network user identifier, a gateway identifier, and an authorization key. The method further comprises, in the authorization system, transferring the information block and a request for a packet address for the second wireless network to the router. The method further comprises, in the router, transferring a second network service request to a gateway in the second wireless network based on the gateway identifier, wherein the second network service request includes the second network user identifier and the authorization key. The method further comprises, in the gateway, transferring the second network service request to the subscriber system. The method further comprises, in the subscriber system, comparing the authorization key included in the second network service request to the authorization key included in the information block, and if the authorization key included in the second network service request matches the authorization key included in the information block, then transferring an authorization approval to the gateway. The method further comprises, in the gateway, assigning the packet address for the second wireless network to the wireless communication device associated with the second network user identifier, and transferring the packet address for the second wireless network to the router. The method further comprises, in the router, transferring a first network service response to the wireless communication device, wherein the first network service response includes the packet address for the second wireless network.
A method of assigning a single packet address to a wireless communication device in a communication system comprising a code division multiple access (CDMA) core network and a long term evolution (LTE) core network comprises, in the wireless communication device, transferring a CDMA service request to a home agent, wherein the CDMA service request includes a CDMA user identifier. The method further comprises, in the home agent, transferring an authorization request to an Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) server, wherein the authorization request includes the CDMA user identifier. The method further comprises, in the AAA server, determining whether the wireless communication device associated with the CDMA user identifier comprises dual-mode functionality, and determining whether a LTE session exists based on the CDMA user identifier. The method further comprises, in the home agent, transferring a CDMA service response to the wireless communication device, wherein the CDMA service response includes a LTE packet address.